Star Trek Hunter Ep 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
by RobertBruceScott
Summary: The U.S.S. Hunter travels to a planet full of fantasy cities just as the Andorian Civil War heats up. Crew members are captured and tortured by members of the Andoria First terrorist group...
1. Ep 13x1: Homecoming

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 1: Homecoming  
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13.1  
Homecoming  
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"It just gives me nightmares. It's like he's coming after me." There was no more romulan ale. But Dr. Tali Shae had managed to score some saurian brandy. Humans tended to go for the smooth brandy that had the texture of thin honey. But Tali Shae knew what the good stuff looked like - grainy with unprocessed cavallaro eggs.

Unlike most intoxicating drinks, saurian brandy had a strong restorative effect, speeding healing, reducing pain, providing mild euphoria and a simultaneous stimulant - like powerful coffee, scotch and morphine mixed into a brew so potent it made your teeth feel like they were on fire - but after a few sips you just wouldn't care all that much.

Justice Minerva Irons was seated in the lounge chair in her quarters. Tali was on the couch. The brandy was in a bottle on the table between them along with two tumblers. Irons took a drink of the brandy, shuddered. "Ugh. Tastes like pee smells after I've eaten asparagus… Sprinkled with tequila and licorice-flavored caviar with a hint of wasabi."

"Smells and tastes like sibob's breakfast to me. But my sibob never got up until the middle of the day," Tali responded.

"I love watching David fight," Irons said, answering Tali's initial thought. "The eyes of a scholar, the mind of a dreamer, the heart of a warrior, the soul of a poet - all wrapped up in the body of a titan. Sucks for whoever is stupid enough to challenge him. Whenever he is in my dreams, he's always a guardian."

"I guess it's because they were andorian. When he grabbed those two by their heads… They transmitted… I could feel their agony as their antennae were.. crunched… and that sound… ih.." Tali shuddered. Her shoulders hunched. Her antennae almost curled as well.

Irons grunted sympathetically. Took another pull of saurian brandy. Made a face. Shuddered. "Ugh… This stuff tastes yesterday's puke! But it feels so good… It's almost like getting a nice, warm massage from the inside…"

"How long has it been since you had a proper massage?" Tali asked.

"Last time I saw Enlai. He was so good with his hands."

"Your second husband? Didn't that marriage end more than 70 years ago?"

"Yes, but I saw him about - oh - about 35 years ago? Shortly before he died. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to withstand a massage now."

"It turns out we have a fully telepathic, Betazed-certified massage therapist on board," Tali said. "He can feel from the inside how much pressure to use…"

"Ah, our beautiful Eli. How many of the women on this boat has he dallied with?" Irons asked.

"Only the ones who want him to. Which would be most of them… Being a telepath is a serious advantage. And he has taken full advantage of it." Tali smiled.

"I couldn't ask him…" Irons started.

"I didn't have to. The moment I thought about it - not even him - just you needing massage therapy - he reached out to me and extended the offer. He is really sensitive."

Irons sighed. "Tempting. But I'll be home tomorrow. Surely there will be a therapist I can go to on Cun Ling."

"Don't lie to me, old woman," Tali said, wagging an antenna at Irons. "You may have been born on Cun Ling, but this is your home. Space. And a boat to drift through it in."

Minerva Irons smiled, lifted her glass in a silent salute, drained it, grimaced, shuddered again.

.

"I'm not sure for how much longer, Tali. I'm not an old woman anymore. I used to be.. A couple of years ago…" Irons sighed again. "I'm a very old woman now."

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13.1


	2. Ep 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
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Episode 13 – The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling

_"Bajorans reached to the stars to find their gods.  
__Andorians reached to the stars at the behest of their gods.  
__Klingons reached to the stars to murder their gods.  
__Cardassians reached to the stars because they thought they were gods.  
__Romulans reached to the stars and lost their gods.=  
__Vulcans reached to the stars to prove there are no gods.  
__Humans reached to the stars and became gods."_

_Kai Kila Xijiana - Introduction to __Legends of the Sisco, 4th edition__._

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Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)  
Each Crewmember's Hometown bracketed in _{Italics}_

At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons _{Ba Sing Sa, Cun Ling}  
_Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper _{Laikan, Andoria}  
_Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady _ {Undisclosed}_

Medical Director - Commander Tali Shae _{Laikan, Andoria}  
_. Asst. Medical Director - Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder _{Ilvia, Bajor}  
_. Epidemiologist - Lt. Napoleon Boles _{Cloddy, Bolarus IV}  
_.. Ensign Chrissiana Trei _{Horizon, Trillius Prime}  
_... Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif _{Numinor, Cun Ling}  
_... Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj  
... Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim

Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Dolphin _{Providence, Rhode Island, Earth}  
_. Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor _{Ingende, Congo, Earth}  
_... Navigator Johanna Imex _ {Mbuye, Rwanda, Earth}  
_... Navigator Eli Strahl _ {Eden, Cun Ling}  
_.. Ensign Ethan Phillips _{Rus, Vulcan}  
_... Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth _{Wakanda, Cun Ling}  
_... Flight Specialist Dih Terri _{Trantor, Cun Ling}  
_... Flight Specialist Joey Chin _{Ba Sing Sa, Cun Ling}  
_... Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar _ {New York City, New York, Earth}_

Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk _{Dos, Ferenginar}  
_. Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T'Lon _ {Kauai Island, Hawaii, Earth}  
_... Investigator Lynhart Shran _{New York City, New York, Earth}  
_... Investigator Buttans Ngumbo _{Hathon, Bajor}  
_.. Ensign Tolon Reeves _{Bangalor, India, Earth}  
_... Tactical Specialist Jarrong _{CIO 19 (Cardassian Imperial Outpost 19)}  
_... Tactical Specialist Belo Rys _{CIO 19}  
_... Tactical Specialist Belo Garr _{CIO 19}  
_... Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys _{CIO 19}  
_

Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera _{Pichilemu, Chile, Earth}  
_. Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek _{New Eden, Mars}  
_... Midshipman Tammy Brazil _{Trantor, Cun Ling}  
_... Transporter Engineer K'rok _{Trantor, Cun Ling}  
_.. Ensign Sun Ho Hui _{Hanoi, Vietnam, Earth}  
_... Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas _{Chickasha, Oklahoma, Earth}  
_... Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs _{Trantor, Cun Ling}  
_... Flight Engineer Tomos _{Sanctuary of the Waterbirds, Cophus II}  
_... Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon _{Bangalore, India, Earth}_


	3. Ep 13x2: Numinor

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 2: Numinor  
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13.2  
Numinor  
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A large star – A Boo – was positioned roughly in the center of a triangle that described the spatial relationship among the three founding homestar systems of the federation – the homestars of Earth, Vulcan and Andoria. Several other species had been present at the initiation of the federation, but it was the humans, vulcans and andorians who were established military powers and formed the military core of the alliance.

In the centuries prior to the federation, the A Boo system had been a flashpoint of wars over resources between the Vulcan High Command and the Andorian Empire. But it was not until humans started flooding into the system that A Boo gained a habitable world. Cun Ling was the brainchild of planetary architect Lin Ling Liu.

Ling was so charismatic she drew thousands and eventually millions of andorians, humans, vulcans and individuals from a dozen other species to work together to build her dream. Early on, the collection of asteroids and enormous machines used to weld them together was nicknamed Cun Ling (Ling's Village).

It took only twenty years for the collection of rocks to accrete to an Earth-sized mass and within another twenty years the surfaces were covered with the foundations of a web of interconnected cities with so much room that demographers were projecting these cities would never have sufficient population to do the enormous amount of work needed to continually adjust the various chunks of mass to keep the artificial planet from crumbling in on itself. Within 250 years, A Boo had become the second most populated star system in the federation with more than 9 billion humans and a total system-wide population nearing 14 billion. Population models suggested that within another 100 years, this population would nearly triple.

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Because of Cun Ling's bizarre construction, impossible fantasy cities became possible – groups of skyscrapers surrounding and surrounded by large bodies of water seemingly suspended hundreds of meters above yawning chasms and interconnected with similarly perched cities by bridges that were themselves half-mile-wide canals so that the main form of ground transportation from one city to the next was by water, allowing efficient, if slow, transportation of mass goods by barge.

Shuttle trains flew over these canals without need for tracks, providing rapid mass transit for tens of millions of commuters. Great machines lurked in the chasms below, constantly adjusting the balance of the collection of asteroids the planet had been constructed from – maintaining these relationships with tolerances of a few millimeters; the canals were constructed from materials that could bow and flex to avoid damage.

The sides of these chasms were covered with a broad variety of solar collectors, turbines and kinetic collectors that generated energy from the movement among the enormous chunks of rock out of which the planet had been constructed. These provided an abundance of energy for the millions of interconnected dynamos that maintained the magnetosphere that kept the artificial planet's atmosphere from being blown away by solar wind.

These machines also produced, as a byproduct, abundant energy for the fabled 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling. Each city had a name from fantasy – among the 15,000 Cities were Camelot, Jumanji, Oz, Uriel, Xanadu, Pern, Hogwarts and Honali – and those were only a small sample of the earthly fantasies. A fairly large contingent of klingon ex-patriots had built Stovokor and a colony of surprisingly whimsical vulcans had founded Sha Ka Ree… Each city had its own unique architecture, generally reflective of the mythology and stories surrounding its namesake.

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Lt. Commander Kenny Dolphin, 2nd Lt. T'Lon, Dr. Sarekson Carrera and Investigator Buttans Ngumbo accompanied Dr. Sif to her home city of Numinor – a city dominated by a blend of Greco-Roman and Gothic structures made of white marble and limestone. White temples and gothic spires reached up toward the clouds. While the city itself was beautiful, the Hunter's crewmembers had ventured there for the gently sloping white sand beaches on the eastern shore. The waters were so clear that the large fish that formed a vital part of the local diet could be seen clearly even at depths of 10 or 15 meters. The edge of Numinor's eastern waters was obscured by mist. But there was sufficient water and tidal movement for good surfing. Not that surfing was a big draw in Numinor – the Hunter's small surfing party pretty much had the beach to themselves.

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"I'm not really sure I get you two." Ngumbo was a better surfer than Kenny, but neither had either the expertise or the fascination with the sport that kept T'Lon and Carrera out on the waves for hours on end. After a few hours wearing themselves out on the waves, the investigator and the director of flight operations were resting on large beach towels and sheltering under giant beach umbrellas that were anchored in the sand. Dr. Sif, her red hair in pigtails, her spots seeming more like freckles along her neck, was also surfed out. After spending some time running in the water along the surf's edge, she was sleeping lightly nearby under another umbrella, her slight, girlish figure curled up on another large beach towel.

"It would take both you and Shran to figure that out," Dolphin replied. "You and Sarekson seem to be getting along."

Buttans Ngumbo made a wry face. "It's largely sexual. We can't very well talk shop – I don't think there's more than a few hundred people in the entire federation who could keep up with him – totally off the charts genius. And he doesn't open up much."

"Well, I'm glad the two of you are together," Kenny remarked. "I never got to see much of him before. And now I get to hear him serenading you with that holographic piano. I was never much into music until I heard him play. I think that might be his way of opening up emotionally."

"Never thought of it that way," Ngumbo replied. "So what is it with you and T'Lon? You're thick as thieves, but you're not together?"

Dolphin sat up, stretched, laced his fingers behind his head. "It was kind of a relief when she – I guess broke up isn't the right term… redefined our relationship? Don't get me wrong – I was crazy about her. Still am. But it just…" Dolphin shrugged, dropped his hands into his lap. "Didn't feel right." He looked over at Sif. "What's with Sif? Doesn't she seem kind of… glum?"

"Lonely." Ngumbo concluded. "I think she always has been. She grew up here," Ngumbo glanced back at the magnificent marble city behind them.

Kenny looked back as well. Beautiful, stately, but not homely. Somehow cold, almost like a mausoleum.

"Her parents both moved back to the trill homeworld with their new spouses," Ngumbo continued. "Her half-brother is still here on Cun Ling, but he's a planetary engineer and she's not sure he'll get time off to see her."

"I wonder if a request from the Irons family to the planetary commission might shake him loose," Kenny mused. "If I remember my mythology correctly, there should be a homely house around here somewhere that would be a great place to get her and her half-brother together – along with us and some more of the crew for a dinner. I can't imagine people building Numinor without including a homely house…"

"A homely house? Is that a house that is… homely?" Ngumbo asked.

"I should say the Homely House," Dolphin responded. "Sort of a meeting place for elves and heroes in J.R.R. Tolkien's early writings. As I said – a great place to get our people together and maybe cheer Sif up a bit. I'll put in a few calls and see if we can arrange for her half-brother to get the time off to join us."

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13.2


	4. Ep 13x3: Ba Sing Se

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 3: Ba Sing Se  
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13.3  
Ba Sing Se  
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Justice Minerva Irons, as the reigning matriarch of the Irons family, received what amounted to a royal welcome at the train station at the great gates of Ba Sing Se. The trains ran on electricity, but two lifelike statues of earth benders were stationed on the rear step of the last car of each passenger train, in deference to the mythology around the great Earth Kingdom city.

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In every city on Cun Ling there was a statue to Lin Ling Liu. The statue of her in Numinor tried to make her appear a heroic figure. It failed. Dumpy, frumpy and slightly misshapen, the founder of Cun Ling simply could not be made to appear heroic despite her legendary charisma and charm. But the statue at the gates of the Imperial Palace in the center of Ba Sing Se captured Ling perfectly – not a hero, but a dreamer – an open book in her lap and her eyes unfocused, looking up beyond the stars. Ling had convinced millions of people to help build her dream by convincing them that they would be building their own. And they had – each city reflecting the fantasies of its founders.

Ba Sing Se had been Ling's dream and the Irons family had played a central role in bringing that particular fantasy to life. Lin Ling Liu's remains were buried underneath her statue in front of the Imperial Palace. Four Dai Li agents guarded this statue at all times – the only variation from the mythic uniforms of the Dai Li were the phasers at their belts. Not that they were likely to be needed. Dai Li were required to become proficient in several forms of martial arts in addition to mastering Hung Gar and they trained daily.

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Minerva Irons had been born in the Imperial Palace and many of her cousins and more distant relatives as well as a few of her grandchildren, great grandchildren, great-great grandchildren, and a few great-great-great grandbabies lived in and around the palace, in the center of a massive city that only in the past 30 years had begun to fill up to half of its enormous population potential. Much of the city was still sparsely populated behind and close to the great wall, but in several areas the city had a bustle that was beginning to make it feel like its namesake.

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An Irons family banquet, much larger than the one on Ocean a year previously, was underway inside the Imperial Palace. Ba Sing Se produced an enormous variety of food and culinary arts had become one of the city's many home-based industries.

"These are all Irons?" asked Tali Shae, astonished at a family gathering that included well over 3,000 people.

"Most of them," Minerva replied. "There are family friends and related families. Quite a few Lins - descendants of Lin Ling Liu and her family. Young, Chin, Li, Wu and Smart," she added, looking around. Not all of the familes in the room were Chinese. And several of the Irons in the room were not human at all.

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"It is such a pleasure to have our esteemed magistrate and matriarch at home at last!" slurred a more that slightly inebriated woman near the other end of the table that Minerva Irons and Tali Shae were seated at. The awkward volume and squeaky pitch of her voice drew attention and caused much of the nearby conversation to pause or to be replaced with whispers.

Minerva Irons smiled and raised her glass, which contained some local iridescently green wine. "I am so pleased to see my birth home prospering. When I was a little girl this great city and even this beautiful palace were vacant, too quiet, newly built and awaiting people. More ghostly than abandoned ruins. This palace was a spooky place at night. Now, with so many people here, it has become a much more joyful place. We even have an economy now. It is wonderful to come home and find things so much better than when I was last here."

"But Minerva," the drunken woman stated, somewhat more coherently, "the question has come up, and not to rush things, but to make use of your wisdom while you are here, how shall we choose the nest… the next matriarch?"

Irons responded by laughing. It took her a few minutes to catch herself and she was more than a little light headed. She was the only one laughing. Everyone else was either looking expectantly at her or angrily at her interlocutor. The great ballroom grew silent.

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Minerva Irons stood up.

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"My dear, lively, ostentatious, occasionally and unjustly maligned Ju Di," Minerva Irons continued, occasionally laughing as she spoke, "you do not select a matriarch. A matriarch will emerge. I was not chosen," Irons continued. "There is no crown, no stamp, no scepter, no ointment. My grandmother did not inherit the matriarchy and I did not inherit it from her."

Irons paused and looked around the hall at her many relatives. She took a breath and put her hand on Tali's shoulder. Her balance was still off a bit after her long ordeal in a cold Andorian courtroom… And this was not her first glass of the rather potent, glowing green wine. She took another deep breath. "Long ago, an Englishman named Jeremy Irons had to appear in court in Hong Kong. He fell in love with his lawyer and she, Biyu Irons, became the first Irons matriarch. Her wisdom led to our prosperity."

Irons lifted her glass. "And here we are, on great family scattered across a dozen worlds." She drained her glass. "And this is delicious wine - made right here in Ba Sing Se. Honestly, I have no idea why I would ever drink anything else." Irons looked at her glass, grimaced as the room around it seemed to swim a little. Almost as an afterthought she said, "Beats all hell out of saurian brandy."

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More than a few of the people around her drained their glasses - but hesitantly - in confusion - as though they were not quite certain they had heard a toast, a speech or an admonishment. Conversations were slow to start up again after Irons sat back down. It took several minutes before the great hall returned to its earlier lively buzz.

Ju Di Irons, after another glass, made her way unsteadily to the other end of the table. Minerva turned in her chair to face her cousin and the two old women briefly clasped hands. "I have, once again, drunk too deepy… too deeply and too fast," Ju Di said. "I'm sorry to have made such a fuss."

Minerva laughed again, a merry, if somewhat inebriated laugh. "I have had a drop or two myself… Ah, Ju Di, if only the universe were as guileless as you, there would be no more war. You asked a very stupid question, but you were wise to ask it. It is good to see you again."

Ju Di straightened up and teetered just a bit. Minerva turned toward a young man at her table. "Iroh, lend your great aunt your strong young shoulder and make sure she finds her room."

Iroh Irons got up and assisted Ju Di Irons in a slow and careful retreat from the great hall.

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13.3


	5. Ep 13x4: Pern

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 4: Pern  
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13.4  
Pern  
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Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth was flying one of the U.S.S. Hunter's new long-range interceptors over a few of the cities of Cun Ling. Navigator Eli Strahl was riding second seat in the interceptor. After an extremely pleasant afternoon layover in Eli's native Eden - an environment founded by Risans - they had taken to the skies for a rare flyover of many of the cities of Cun Ling. The city they were jointly seeking was Pern. Guth had an idea. Eli Strahl, powerfully telepathic, was aware of Guth's idea and liked it - which was why he had asked to come along.

There was no need for conversation.

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Most of the fantastic cities of Cun Ling were combinations of great buildings and water. Some involved massive waterfalls incorporated into the skyscrapers. Ba Sing Se had its great wall. Numinor had its marble-clad pillars, temples and spires. Even Eden consisted of hundreds of skyscrapers with gardens on roofs, balconies, and layers of land bridges that connected one skyscraper to another at various levels. And lots and lots of apple trees…

But Pern was different. In the place of giant buildings were mountains with large caverns - large openings - large enough for Guth to fly the new long-range interceptor into. By prearrangement, Guth parked the new interceptor inside one of these caverns.

Pern was largely home to pilots - specifically pilots of various types of ultra-light aircraft. While there were a few statues of dragons, there was only one statue of a dragon with a rider - the large statue of Lin Ling Liu. She looked ridiculous astride a dragon and the statue was a bit of a failure despite (or possibly because of) the magnificence of the dragon. So much so that a second, life-size statue had been commissioned near the center of the city's waterpark - a large collection of various, imaginative fountains. This smaller statue depicted Ling with a baby dragon in her lap and made the planet's founder and namesake look like a little girl cuddling a beloved pet. It was a far more successful tribute.

It was next to this statue that Dewayne Guth met with the city's mayor, Tala Ocompo, a solidly built woman of Filipino descent.

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"We are always happy to have visitors and most of our visitors are pilots," Ocompo said. "I am far from the busiest mayor on Cun Ling. But I hope you don't mind if we make this a breakfast meeting."

A number of vendors were providing a variety of food from mobile booths and carts. Guth followed the mayor toward one of these. She stopped to pick a number of small red berries from a tree. "Spring berries - in season - they're very tasty," she said.

Guth obtained a bowl from a vendor and pulled down a number of the berries. He sat down at one of the tables near the central fountain with the mayor - both had plates full of fresh, locally grown fruits.

"I think I've known about this place for many, many years, but I never visited here."

"You're with Star Fleet?" Ocompo asked.

"Eighteen years now. I joined when I was 19," Guth replied.

"I don't recognize the uniform."

"For the past three years I've been flying for the Star Fleet Office of Judge Advocate General – these black uniforms are JAG uniforms."

"You grew up on Cun Ling," said the mayor - it was a statement, not a question. "It's not uncommon for us Trantor kids to get the spacebug. I served in Star Fleet for eight years before coming here."

"Actually, I'm from Wakanda," Guth replied.

"Ah, now that's a beautiful city. I've been there a few times," Mayor Ocompo rejoined. "So what brings you here instead of there?"

"As I understand it, Pern just really has never taken off as a city," said Guth. "It's a place people leave."

"It sounds to me like you have something to sell me," Ocompo said, warily. She bit into a starfruit and watched Guth's face closely.

"More of an idea. The thing is, there are no dragons. No one is interested in having mechanical dragons flying around and brewing up a living dragon in a test tube apparently started out as a failure and ended up as a felony."

The Mayor snorted – Guth's summary was a bit too on the nose.

"I don't have any dragons to sell you," Guth continued. "But I am concerned about a particular species of large bird. They're rather frightening to look at, but they're very intelligent - they can speak Vulcan and I have no doubt they can learn other languages. And they're surprisingly gentle and sweet natured - at least toward vulcans. Not so gentle toward fish…"

Ocompo looked at him with even more suspicion.

Guth brought out a reader and pulled up video he had taken from inside the Sanctuary of the Waterbirds.

Ocompo's expression went from surprise to a quick smile as she heard Destim Ski speaking in Vulcan, then guarded as she watched video from the wagon's internal sensors of the giant bird crawling into the wagon, then freeing itself again.

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"From what I have learned, the planet these creatures live on is somewhat unstable. It would be a shame to lose them. I would like your permission to open negotiations about starting a colony of them here - probably along with their vulcan caretakers. This environment - the water - the caverns - the fish - it would be very familiar to them. If they could survive here… well… they're just magnificent. I would feel so much better if their entire population wasn't at the mercy of an unstable planet."

"So what would this process look like?" the mayor asked.

"I really don't know, Mayor," Guth replied. "I'm a pilot, not a negotiator. I suppose I would get my flight director, Lieutenant Dolph… er, that is Lieutenant Commander Dolphin, involved. I just wanted to see if it was a possibility before I start involving other people. And all of that is assuming the waterbirds would even consider coming."

Mayor Ocompo still appeared unconvinced. Eli Strahl walked up to the table.

"Mayor, this is Eli Strahl," Guth said, "one of our navigators. And a betazoid. I asked him here so that he could show you something that Destim Ski showed me."

"Destim Ski?"

"The waterbird you saw." Guth tapped the reader. "His caretaker, a vulcan named Maa, acted as a conduit to allow me to see some of his memories. Eli can act as a conduit to show you my memories of Destim Ski, if you will allow him."

Eli sat down next to Mayor Ocompo. She looked at him suspiciously, but Eli was a remarkably good looking man and after a moment, she nodded.

"Dewayne's memories are somewhat faded and probably more than a little changed, but you should still get a fair picture of what he experienced. I will try to filter it as little as possible. But I'm not a vulcan. Betazoids converse using telepathy, but transferring experiences is really more of a vulcan ability."

Ocompo smiled, put somewhat at ease by Eli's explanation. She closed her eyes, then gasped.

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"Now you see what I mean," said Guth. "It would be a terrible thing to lose them."

Ocompo nodded, wiped her eyes, clearly a little choked up from the experience - the emotional impact of meeting Destim Ski in Guth's memories. "This isn't something I can do on my own, Mr. Guth. But I think my citizens would be interested. Can I talk to a few people and get back to you?"

"Let's not get too many people's hopes up," Guth rejoined. "If you can, please keep it a small circle at least until I get a 'yes' from the waterbirds."

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13.4


	6. Ep 13x5: Trantor General Hospital

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 5: Trantor General Hospital

13.5  
Trantor General Hospital  
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Investigator Lynhart Shran's hearing was undimmed by age. And while he was very happy about the noises coming from the doctor who was examining Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys, he was far less sanguine about the noises he overheard from the communicator of another patient in the doctor's office.

While the doctor was explaining that Dr. Pali's treatment had helped Belo Cantys develop internal egg sacks and two of them had successfully fertilized, Shran could hear half of a conversation coming from a nearby room. He couldn't make out what the other patient was saying, but he could hear the part of the conversation coming from her communicator.

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As soon as they had left the doctor's office, Shran spotted a stairwell and drew Cantys into it with him.

"I'm not really in a mood to climb 400 flights of stairs…" Cantys teased.

"Boss, are you reading me?" Shran said, thereby activating the communicator embedded in his chest.

"Tauk here, Shran. T'Lon is on leave. I take it you got good news?"

"And bad. I caught a coded transmission from one of the other patients. She must be a ranking blue helmet. Parts of the city are being sectored off. A dead romulan, four dead humans and 37 dead andorians."

"Trantor has a police department, Lynhart. The biggest in the known galaxy. I'm sure they can handle 42 bodies," came Tauk's response. "Enjoy your leave. Spread your good news. Let's leave local problems to the local constabulary."

"Okay, boss," Shran replied. "But write this down somewhere so I don't have to say it again later: This ain't a local problem. These aren't the first to die and they won't be the last. Unless my instincts are way off, we're in for a bloodbath - blue, red and green."

Cantys could hear Tauk cough a few times through the communicator embedded in Shran's chest. The other end of such conversations tended to be muffled and barely discernible to those nearby, but living around these internal communicators trained everyone to listen carefully.

Tauk swallowed something, then said, "I trust your instincts, Lynhart. I'll inform Pep. Let's not tell the others just yet. Especially not the judge. She has carried enough of the galaxy's problems for now. Pep will know what to do about it. Keep your ears and eyes open, but don't go snooping. Remember - you're on leave. Conference mode, Shran, Cantys."

Cantys' communicator came alive, bringing her into the conversation so she didn't have to strain her ears.

"Cantys, make sure Lynhart stays out of detective mode and has a good time," Tauk continued. "I'll make that an order if I have to."

"You can take the mode out of the man…" Cantys started. "No, wait, you can take the man out of the mode… I never get these human aphorisms right…"

Tauk laughed and coughed a little more. "Just have fun and make sure he does too. Stay out of dangerous places. Tauk out."

.

A moment later, Cantys called for Tauk again: "Um, Director…"

"Did you get into some place dangerous, Cantys? I thought I just gave you an order…"

"Um… well… We're in this stairwell and it's restricted access to get back onto this floor. And we're on about the 400th floor… can you help us?"

Cantys and Shran could both hear Tauk sigh. "Two months' special weapons and tactics training at Star Fleet Technical, nearly two years' service in special assault tactics, not to mention a sniper with 30 years' service for the Andorian Imperial Guard… Defeated by an electronic door lock. All right, give me a few minutes. Shran, don't blow the door off its hinges…"

.

13.5


	7. Ep 13x6: Trantor Metro Museum of Art

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 6: Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art  
.

13.6  
Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art  
.

On the impossibly large top floor of another skyscraper in another part of Trantor, Commander David Pepper was enthusiastic about a sculpture exhibit that had Transporter Specialist K'rok, Lt. Cmdr. Mlady, Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar, Ensign Ethan Phillips and 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek profoundly bored. Only Dr. Napoleon Boles showed some interest in the many individual pieces in this holographic exhibit. Because the sculptures were holograms, there were no ropes or boundaries between the visitors to this exhibit and the sculptures.

People were welcome to touch these sculptures because there was no way they could permanently damage them. It was entirely possible to break the more delicate sculptures or deform them, depending on the material used in the original sculpture. As soon as the person who did this damage moved on, the hologram would simply refresh the simulated replica to its initial condition.

And Boles was touching and breaking everything, feeling how each sculpture was made, interested in the way the materials responded, if they could be broken or deformed, what the inside looked like, whether there were layers of other materials, the same material, or if the statue was hollow.

The Hunter's crew were far from the only people on this floor - there were easily several hundred. Mlady, uncomfortable in crowds, stuck close to Pep. Boles studied each statue with interest, but kept an eye on the group and managed to stay roughly in the middle of the group. K'rok had taken to watching Boles and stayed with him. Phillips and Moon trailed the group, making fun of some of the statues and trying unsuccessfully to conceal their irreverent laughter.

Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar, trailing Pep and Mlady, shook his head slowly, taking in the forest of statues. Not entirely under his breath, he said in his Puerto Rican accent, "The 15,000 statues of Lin Ling Liu. Only it's more like 15 million…"

.

"EUREKA!" Pep exclaimed loudly, frightening several of the other visitors. "I found it!"

.

Boles, K'rok, Salazaar and even Phillips and Moon bustled over to him. "Found what?" asked Salazaar.

Pep gestured to one of the most absurd statues yet of Lin Ling Liu, made of wood, bathing in a waterfall, coyly posed, shrubbery growing from her head instead of hair. Like most statues of the planet's founder, it was far from entirely successful. "Eureka," Pep explained.

A label hovering next to the statue displayed the word: "EUREKA."

Pep's crewmates looked at him, blankly.

"Okay, the 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling…" Pep started. "There are actually only 14,767 cities in the official roster. And some cities are obviously missing - hidden cities: Eureka… th'Istel… Puk… Gondolin… Atlantis… The 233 Lost Cities of Cun Ling. And here is a clue that they might actually exist. People go to these places to disappear…"

.

Lt. Cmdr. Mlady was distracted and had wandered to the window nearby. Trantor was different from the other cities. While most of the 15,000 cities were, as yet, sparsely populated, nearly three billion people lived in Trantor, making it the largest city in the Alpha Quadrant. Trantor was the administrative hub of Cun Ling - home to the planetary commission that maintained the vast machines in the chasms that held the planet together. Home to the 46th (and second largest) circuit court of the Federation Tribunal. Home to a vast education system, law, engineering, medicine and far more. And home to skyscrapers so tall that the upper floors were pressurized and shielded from solar radiation. From this top floor of the Trantor Metropolitan Museum of Art (commonly referred to as TIMA), Mlady could see those giant skyscrapers carefully spaced so that downtown buildings like this one were not in perpetual shadow.

A burst of activity closer to the ground caught Mlady's attention - a flock of Trantor police interceptors hovering around an industrial area. Dozens of interceptors swiftly became hundreds.

"Something's wrong," she said, interrupting Pep's musings about lost cities.

Pep and the others joined her at the window.

"The Trantor police are shutting down a fairly large section of the city," Mlady continued.

"Tauk," Pep called, activating the communicator embedded in his chest. "Are you aware of something going on that would have the Trantor blue helmets shutting down part of the city?"

"I was just talking with Investigator Shran…" came Tauk's voice.

"Hang on Tauk," said Pep. "Conference mode, crew in six meter proximity. Okay, go ahead, Tauk"

"Lynhart was just telling me he overheard a coded message," Tauk continued. "Apparently the Trantor police just found a dead romulan, a few dead humans and a lot of andorian corpses. Lynhart says it's probably not the first and won't be the last. He seems to think this is something big."

"How does Shran know Trantor police code?" K'rok asked.

"I'd be astonished if he didn't," said Pep. "Lenny has a way of arming himself with the knowledge he needs for his trade. He's not just a great shot with a phaser - he's a remarkable sleuth."

"Which means if he thinks this is big…" started Boles.

"He is very probably right," Tauk concluded.

.

13.6


	8. Ep 13x7: The Homely House, Numinor

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 7: The Homely House, Numinor  
.

13.7  
The Homely House, Numinor  
.

Finrod was nothing short of astonished to have been personally given a week of leave by Planetary Commission Chairman LaDonna Wu. But it was good to have some time with his half-sister. Unlike red-headed Sif, Finrod had dark hair, but his skin, like hers, was very light and his spots unusually small, appearing more like freckles along the sides of his head and neck.

Finrod had never taken the time to have a family – planetary engineers were by far the busiest people on Cun Ling and small problems could grow very quickly to become literally earth-shattering. As a result, planetary engineers preferred to spend most of their time with other planetary engineers. Layers of independently redundant systems helped prevent catastrophic failure of the planetary structure. But the general public didn't really need to know just how close the planet and its massive population had come, on a few occasions, to utter annihilation.

.

The Homely House was a relief from the marbled magnificence of Numinoran architecture. It was not one building, but an expanse of several interconnected buildings woven in and out of a vast garden in a dell on the southwest side of Numinor, tucked away so that the great marble and limestone spires of the main city were hidden behind the landscape.

While some effort had gone into attracting vulcans and vulcan hybrids to staff the Homely House, the majority of the staff were either trill or bolian. Like his half-sister, Finrod was an un-joined trill. He was pleasantly surprised at the size of the party that had commandeered one of the large dining rooms of the Homely House. A party this large merited its own dedicated cooks and servers. The kitchen was built right into the dining room. The boar meat on the spit had been replicated - but replicated raw and had been cooked slowly with fresh herbs and spices rubbed in.

The tables and walls were real wood and the ales and meads were brewed locally and served in tankards made of treated wood. Every effort had been made to create an authentic environment with fresh, locally produced foods (except for the meat, which, like most replicated meats, had started as bean curd.)

.

Nearly a third of the Hunter's crew were present, including all the senior staff with the exception of Lt. Tauk, who was, at the moment, in command of the Hunter in orbit of Cun Ling. Finrod was slightly worried about his half-sister living and working among so many hybrids, but was impressed once he realized that Lt. Cmdr. Dolphin was, in fact, the notorious Dr. Kenny Dolphin, whose recent appearance on Subspace Radio Ivonovic still had the entire quadrant buzzing.

Finrod had never heard of Justice Irons, but understood that Sif held the old woman in very high esteem. He was impressed with Minerva Irons' remarkable beauty despite her evident age. There was a power and a magnificence about her - almost like a female version of Odin.

.

"What I want to know is how a family of trills ended up in Numinor," said Dr. Napoleon Boles. "There are actually a few cities on this planet that were founded by trills." Dinner had long been consumed and small groups at various tables were enjoying savory and relaxed conversation.

"This place, actually this very room," Sif replied. She gestured with a toasted ginger mustard cracker to a sign over the hearth that read _The Homely House_ and in smaller letters _Nargothrond_.

"Finrod Felagund, King of Nargothrond," Dolphin mused. He looked at Finrod. "So you were named after this room?"

Finrod rolled his eyes.

Sif nodded. "Our mother was a chef. She used to cook right over there - and in a few other rooms in this place. She met Finrod's father in this room. He was a planetary engineer…"

"Who spent all his time in the chasms," Finrod continued. "What little time he wasn't down there seeing to the stability of the planet, he was in Trantor for training or planning meetings. Eventually he moved there, but mother wouldn't leave this place."

"Mother had already moved on," Sif said, picking up the story. "My father was a server here. They moved back to T-Prime to take care of his parents."

"My father also moved back to T-Prime with a new wife," Finrod continued. "Another engineer. They had learned so much working in the chasms that they were able to get good engineering jobs working for the mining consortiums back home. If you're not a candidate for a symbiont and you aren't from a family that owns the mines, you work in them all your life unless you can find a way out. That's why you see so many trills working here," Finrod concluded.

The small group at Dr. Sif's table - Finrod, Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin, 2nd. Lt. T'Lon and Lt. Napoleon Boles were fairly deep into their cups. Finrod leaned conspiratorially across the table, spoke with what he thought at the moment was a quiet voice to Kenny Dolphin. "So tell me, how do you put up working with all these hybrids?"

.

"Finrod!" Dr. Sif was mortified.

.

T'Lon turned toward Dolphin, raised her eyebrows.

Napoleon Boles turned toward Dolphin as well. "I'd like to know that too, Dr. Kenny. How DO you manage to put up with all of us hybrids?"

Voices at the other tables got just a little too quiet and their conversations disjointed as other members of the Hunter's crew tried (and largely failed) to eavesdrop discretely.

Dolphin laughed. "Well in your case, Napoleon, with superhuman effort…"

Dr. Boles stuck out his blue tongue, briefly made a rude blue face, then smiled.

"You know," Dolphin continued, "I spent a decade trying to convince everyone that I have no bias against hybrids. But it really isn't true when you get down to it. I think I was able to spot the sticking point - jealousy about enhanced abilities – an unfair advantage – because I secretly felt that way myself. Who couldn't feel a little envious and resentful about Justice Irons? She's only a quarter vulcan, but she's lived forever and she's just unbelievably beautiful."

"Pep is stronger than any orion or human and as fast as any andorian - which considering his size shouldn't be physically possible. Buttans and his superhuman speed.. Shran and his superior eyesight and coordination.. Dr. Carrera, only an eighth vulcan, but off the charts genius.. All of them received genetic manipulation just to be able to survive their inherent genetic incompatibilities. You can't tell me their enormous advantages are a product of random chance."

"Even you, Napoleon, totally off the charts in ingenuity, a tremendous graphic artist - sculpture, painting, holo-sketching…" Dolphin lost his train of thought, looked confused and then decided to take a long drink of the honey mead.

"So do you think you're somehow more virtuous than I am because your gifts - intelligence, emotional stability, whatever it is that makes you such a risk-taker – came from, as you would put it, a natural throw of the dice?" Boles asked.

Dolphin set his flagon down and clutched both hands over his heart, wobbled dramatically (and more than a little drunkenly): "You wound me to my core. You wound me sir, you wound me…"

Laughter could be heard from nearby tables where everyone had given up the pretense of not listening in.

Boles threw back his head and laughed.

Sif giggled in spite of her embarrassment.

T'Lon's studied look of long suffering, long absent, returned as she shook her head slowly.

Finrod was clearly lost in thought, mulling the entire conversation over.

.

13.7


	9. Ep 13x8: The Blue Wraith

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 8: The Blue Wraith  
.

13.8  
The Blue Wraith  
.

Investigator Lynhart Shran walked around outside, following the outside wall of the room of the Homely House in which the Hunter's crew were still enjoying the aftermath of dinner with Dr. Sif.

Footprints under the window sill. Shran drew his phaser, walked slowly toward the edge of the building, following the footprints.

.

"Hello again, old man," came a familiar voice from behind him. "I know what your coat does, which is why I am aiming at your head. I'll have that phaser now."

Shran froze, but did not offer his phaser. "Johnny Canada," he said in his gravelly voice. "And just why are you following me?"

"Just doing my job, Eliminator. Or is it Investigator now? Please don't make me ask again for your weapon."

"That's a very nice phase pistol," came Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys' voice from behind Canada. "Andorian manufacture? An antique. Please deactivate it. And the other one as well…"

"I wouldn't screw with that little girl, Canada," Shran said, holstering his phaser and turning around slowly. "I'll have those phase pistols again, please."

Canada smiled ruefully and held each pistol in his open hands. Shran took them and dropped them into the pockets of his overcoat.

"I'm going to have to get out of the habit of underestimating you," Canada said.

"State your business, Canada. You deliberately let me see you through the window. You wanted me out here…"

"Actually, I need to speak to your captain. If you would be so kind as to make the introduction," Canada said.

"In your capacity as a Blue Wraith?" Shran asked.

Canada spread his hands out, looked down, smiled broadly, looked up again. "I'm not surprised you figured that out. I was kind of counting on it. About my pistols…"

"After your conversation with the judge," said Shran. He gestured toward the front of the building.

.

Canada walked in front as they rounded the corner to the veranda. Justice Minerva Irons and Commander David Pepper were seated in chairs near the front door, talking quietly.

"Look who willingly walked into my arms," Shran said.

Pep and Irons both stood up.

"He's a Blue Wraith," Shran continued.

"Field Agent Johnny Canada, Trantor Police, Intelligence Division," Canada said.

"Show me," said Irons.

Canada rolled his eyes up, opened them wide, exposing the whites underneath the iris and pupil. The tiny tattoos would only be noticeable to someone who knew what to look for.

"Tell me," Irons continued.

"Five of your crew members have been kidnapped in Trantor," Canada said. "Ensign Tolon Reeves, Flight Specialist Joey Chin, and Tactical Specialists, Jarrong, Belo Rys and Belo Garr. I asked for this assignment because I have had previous dealings with your associate here." Canada gestured with his head toward Lynhart Shran.

"Lenny, you can give the man back his weapons," said Pep. "Johnny, our director of ground operations just informed us that Reeves and his party disappeared from our sensors. It looks like they were beamed out."

Shran removed the phase pistols from his pockets, gave them back to Canada, who holstered them.

"You do realize that my partner had us covered the entire time.." Canada said.

"The blue girl?" Shran asked.

Canada turned to look at Shran, then turned suddenly and looked to his left, where Shran's antennae were focused.

A young bolian woman was walking toward the group, her hands raised. Investigator Buttans Ngumbo was behind her.

.

"What was that you said earlier about underestimating us?" Shran said.

.

Canada called on another of his vast repertoire of disarming grins. Put his hands in his pockets. "I seem to recall making some such remark.."

"Enough spy versus spy," Minerva Irons said with some exasperation. "We have people in trouble. What do you know?"

"Not very much, yet, your honor. We are asking you to keep your crew here in Numinor or return to your vessel for your own protection. I strongly suspect that the crewmembers taken were not the target – you are," said Canada.

"Those dead andorians yesterday," said Shran. "Andoria First?"

Canada nodded. "And a Star Fleet Intelligence operative – the romulan."

"Damn," cursed Irons quietly. "He was one of our most valuable agents. What is the outlook for our people?"

"I don't think they are in Trantor anymore," Canada said. "But I will have to return there to pick up the trail. If it is Andoria First, your people are not in for a pleasant time, but I don't think they will be killed - at least not for a day or two. Old andorian saying – live bait catches more folyprogs than dead bait. For now, I am taking lead on this investigation. Agent Anana Lynarr here will be your liaison until we have this resolved. I have been instructed to advise you not to run your own investigation…"

"You don't want to get between us and our people," Shran said.

"I have no intention of trying to stop you," Canada rejoined. "As I said, I was instructed to advise you, Investigator. I learned the hard way that you are very much capable of taking care of yourself. But if you start filling my streets with bodies, we're going to have a problem with that..."

.

13.8


	10. Ep 13x9: An Imperial Audience

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 9: An Imperial Audience  
.

13.9  
An Imperial Audience  
.

Sin Shav, now Emperor Sin IV, was not much for standing in court on the Imperial Dias. His preference was to be in the Imperial Command and Control Center (commonly referred to as the Ice Room). Most meetings with him were held in the hallway outside Ice Room, which tended to keep these meetings short and to the point. Of the many visitors he had to deal with, he had afforded only three the pomp of a Court meeting – Minerva Irons, Vulcan Premier Saoron, and Federation Council Leader Ushi Irons. All other visitors who had been granted an imperial audience found that if they could not conclude their business within five minutes in a cold, breezy hallway, they would be shuffled off to deal with the Chancellor, who would in turn quickly shuffle them off to one of many imperial bureaucrats.

Once word had spread about this imperial protocol, requests for imperial audiences dropped off sharply. However, today's visitor – the only one scheduled for this day – had the emperor mildly curious.

.

"I am deeply honored to address the Andorian State and the people of Andoria," said Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic, spreading his arms wide, hands at waist level, palms forward, fingers splayed, following the newly published protocol for informal imperial audiences. Despite the cold, Ivonovic had foregone an overcoat and had surrendered his jacket, wearing only a simple white shirt and gray pants. Simple, but highly polished black leather shoes.

For a moment, Emperor Sin IV, clad in a mixture of white and ivory robes, simply stood and blindly regarded the man. Ivonovic knew he had only five minutes, but he maintained his pose with no sign of impatience, despite the cold breeze ruffling his silver hair and the sleeves of his white shirt. Sin Shav allowed nearly two of Ivonovic's minutes to pass, then finally said, "Speak."

"You have a great friend, and I have a great friend," Ivonovic said. "Our friends' fates are tied together. And they are in distress. I know you are already aware that your friend, Justice Minerva Irons, has crewmembers who have been kidnapped by andorian traitors who act under the name Andoria First. My friend, Lieutenant Commander Kenny Dolphin, will be actively looking for them. I am certain you plan to help them. I have resources that may be able to assist you."

"You want something in return, beyond helping a few Star Fleet officers," Shav said. It was not a question.

"Only for another audience, after this matter is settled, to discuss politics," Ivonovic replied.

The Emperor's antennae focused on Ivonovic. He closed his blind eyes for a moment. "I have heard your broadcasts. I would not have thought you capable of being a man of few words."

"I adapt."

"Commander Oshreb Sav is coordinating our response. Travel to Cun Ling. Coordinate with him. I will consider your request."

Ivonovic spread his hands wide, his hands again at waist level, fingers splayed. "It has been a great honor to address the Andorian State and the People of Andoria," he said, taking a half-step back. "A very great honor," he added.

Emperor Sin IV turned briskly and re-entered the Ice Room.

.

13.9


	11. Ep 13x10: Thumbnail

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 10: Thumbnail  
.

13.10  
Thumbnail  
.

Tactical Specialist Jarrong could barely think. It was just too cold. At least she wasn't hanging from the wall by manacles. A few skeletons were – she guessed these were andorian. She had no idea where the others were. She had gathered rags from around the room that had once been the clothing of previous prisoners, bundled herself into them as much as possible, curled into a ball and tried to stay warm. She knew somehow that if she fell asleep, she might not wake up. She had only a brief memory of being beamed off the street near a pub in Trantor along with her group and then gassed while still on the transporter pad. Had there been an andorian there? She seemed to remember two, but she might have been seeing double.

A blood curdling scream of anguish roused her. She had nearly fallen asleep. She knew that if she could only sleep, this would all go away. Forever. The second scream had her wide awake and upright. She recognized the voice. Tolon. Her commanding officer.

Jarrong rolled into a crouched fighting stance. This had the advantage of keeping her body curled to conserve what little heat she could. She shivered, which helped build up a little more warmth under the rags. She found herself wishing she had been wearing her uniform instead of Trantor civilian fashions. Two andorians appeared at the barred door of her cell. She deliberately avoided looking at them – only their cleated ice boots.

As soon as one of them unlocked and opened the cage door, Jarrong took off like a spring, lunging toward her captors – only to be met with an andorian stunbludgeon in the center of her chest, delivering an electric shock that knocked her halfway back across the room. Her physiology did not handle cold well at all, but was good at handling electricity – instead of being burned at the point of contact as a human would have been, she was warmed as the electricity coursed through the mucous laced skin ridges. It still hurt and she could not take repeated shocks without damage to her system. Instinctively, she backed into a corner of the cell, crouched, appearing to cower. One thing Jarrong had lots of experience with was being a prisoner and being tortured – not as often as her cousins who were more obviously part bajoran. But enough to have developed prison survival skills.

.

"Stand up, cardassian," said one of captors – the one with the stunbludgeon. "Unless you want the bajoran to die." Jarrong stood up. Her two captors stepped out of the cell. The one gestured down the hallway with his stunbludgeon. She stepped out of the cell and walked in front. About a dozen meters down the hallway was another cell that contained her cousins, Tactical Specialists Belo Rys and Belo Garr along with the pilot, Flight Specialist Joey Chin.

Jarrong paused only slightly and was rewarded with a rude and painful shock at a lower power setting in the middle of her back. Garr and Rys were huddled on either side of the human pilot – his arms around each of them – sharing his warmth with them. Humans had much better tolerance for cold than any other species she knew except for andorians – a higher body temperature. She found herself briefly envious of human adaptability to a much wider range of temperatures and atmospheric conditions than any other species she was aware of.

.

A few meters further was an open cell door with two more andorians standing guard. One of them ushered her inside. Ensign Tolon Reeves was tied to a chair, his head hanging. His left arm was unbound. His left thumb was bleeding profusely. This cell contained running water – icy cold, but clear. Jarrong took the cleanest rag she could find, quickly soaked it, then carefully compressed it around Tolon's bleeding thumb – his thumbnail had been ripped out of its nailbed, shredding the top of his thumb.

Tolon cried out in agony as Jarrong pressed the rag firmly around the wound to stop his bleeding and tied it tightly. She carefully avoided looking at her captors. She raised his arm and held it as high as she could to slow the bleeding. The rag quickly turned red – soaked with his blood.

"Untie him and carry him back to your cell, cardassian," said one of the andorians.

"Keep your arm up," Jarrong whispered to Tolon, then laid his left hand on top of his head. With tremendous effort, Tolon kept his left arm up while Jarrong freed his right arm and body from the chair. She carefully wrapped his left arm around her shoulders and lifted him from the chair with some effort. Tolon was a short man, but built like a fireplug – all muscle.

Jarrong followed her captors back toward her cell. They stopped at the cell that contained her cousins, opened the door, ushered her in. Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Joey Chin all quickly got to their feet to help her carefully lower Tolon to the floor, his back against the wall. Jarrong gathered some rags, tied them together, tied one end to a manacle at the end of a chain on the wall, looped the other end and used this to keep Tolon's left arm elevated. This cell also had running water and she cleaned a rag to the best of her ability and replaced the bandage on Tolon's thumb. Tolon gasped in pain, but managed not to yell.

Belo Rys curled up next to Tolon on his left side, wrapped her arms around him.

"If this is what getting a promotion means, I don't think I want one," said Belo Garr.

Tolon managed a smile, then looked at each of his team members. "Oh, it was very much worth it," he croaked in a feeble voice.

"What were they trying to get out of you?" asked Joey Chin.

"Leverage," Tolon answered, his voice strengthening a little. "I answered all their questions. It was just who our crew is and they already had our crew roster. They will be sending my thumbnail to our captain as evidence of their intentions. And evidence they have us."

"Where do you think we are?" asked Belo Garr. "Maybe one of the polar regions?"

"Maybe," said Joey Chin. "But somehow it doesn't feel like we've gone anywhere."

"Certainly a lot colder than Trantor," Jarrong remarked, shivering.

Joey Chin walked over to her and hugged her. Jarrong started to draw away. She did not like being touched. But feeling his warmth, she pulled him closer, hugged him tightly, realized that he was deliberately warming her. It was like hugging a furnace. She marveled again at how warm humans were – even warmer than andorians. Like Justice Irons, Chin had strongly Chinese features. There was a rare gentleness and kindness to the pilot's eyes. He had long, soft, straight black hair, much like Irons. Hair so black that it had a blue shine to it.

Jarrong buried her face in Joey Chin's hair and tried not to think too hard about the fact that aside from her cousins, she had experienced far more gentleness and kindness from humans than from cardassians or bajorans - even her own mother and father.

Chin could feel the enormous effort Jarrong was putting into trying to maintain her composure. "Let it go," he said softly, stroking her hair. "Just let it all go…"

Jarrong hid her face in the pilot's hair, her breathing ragged, barely managing not to howl in anguish, her body wracked by the effort, a lifetime of terror, rage, helplessness and shame pouring onto the neck and shoulder of a man she barely knew.

.

13.10


	12. Ep 13x11: Lower Trantor

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 11: Lower Trantor  
.

13.11  
Lower Trantor  
.

While 2nd Lt. T'Lon was officially in charge of the rescue mission on the ground, she had allowed Investigator Lynhart Shran to take the lead and put together the response team. Shran had recruited three Trantor natives, Flight Specialist Dih Terri as well as Tammy Brazil and Thomas Hobbs from the engineering department. Shran had also included the bolian field agent from the Trantor Police, Anana Lynarr, with the promise that she would not interfere with the Hunter's investigation but would help coordinate with the Trantor Police. Investigator Buttans Ngumbo was the seventh and final addition. No one was in uniform - all were wearing casual clothing in the style popular in Trantor - fewer earth tones with a greater emphasis on blues, grays and whites.

Shran had banished Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys to the Hunter to work with Lt. Tauk to process information the ground team gathered and uploaded.

.

"They say all canals lead to Trantor," said Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs. Hobbs had a thick Scottish accent heard in several of the oldest areas of Trantor – the warehouse, transportation and machinery centers that supported the planetary engineers. These were the grimy parts of the federation's greatest city and a significant portion of the early population had been Scottish. "What they don't tell you is that all tunnels lead to Trantor as well." Hobbs was middle aged with gray eyes, gray hair and a gray mustache and goatee. At the moment, he was leading the Hunter's team through Lower Trantor toward a series of gates.

Midshipman Tammy Brazil had also grown up in Lower Trantor, as these sectors were referred to – quite literally in the lowest lying areas of the city, below the waterline of the central and outer lakes. Elevators and tunnels ran from these areas directly down underneath the lakes to the chasms on all sides of Trantor so that the enormous machinery that engineered and maintained the planet could be quickly and efficiently moved in and out of the chasms for repair and renovation.

"What I don't understand is how they got around the transporter blocks," said Agent Lynarr, "No one should be able to transport anything inside Trantor – in or out – without an approved transit code to get through the shielding."

"Ah now lass," Hobbs replied, "Anything can be had in Trantor for the right price. Even your precious transporter codes. That's our first stop – the Trantor underground market. The market master keeps tight control over the most valuable commodities, and transporter codes are right at the top. And they deal strictly in ferengi currency."

Dih Terri nervously brought her hair down and her collar up to cover her spots. Lower Trantor was a place she had avoided all her life. "I'm not sure how much good I can be down here. I grew up in Middle Trantor in the fountain district. I think this is the first time I've ever been at street level," she said.

"Then keep your eyes peeled, your collar up and your hand on your phaser," Lynhart Shran replied.

.

A fair amount of traffic was passing through a series of turnstiles at 16 gates – 8 inbound, 8 exits. The inbound gates were heavily guarded.

"Does anyone ever try to get in by jumping the exit turnstiles?" asked Dih Terri, nervously.

Shran pointed toward sniper windows above the gates. "They might, but I doubt they would be conscious when they get in," he said.

As the party stepped up to one of the turnstiles, Hobbs offered seven slips of gold-pressed latinum to one of the guards, who deposited it, then held out his hand and said, "Your weapons, please." Hobbs responded by depositing seven strips of latinum in the guard's hand. The guard stepped aside, allowing the Hunter's hunting party to enter the Trantorian Underground.

.  
A***A  
.

Deep inside the Trantor Underground, more latinum was on offer, this time from a friendly looking human with a brown beard and friendly brown eyes to a number of extremely seedy-looking ferengi. These slips and strips of latinum not only made them talkative, but also purchased evidence from the ferengi, including a bloody human thumbnail…

.  
A***A  
.

In another part of the Trantor Underground, still more gold-pressed latinum was changing hands – only instead of slips or strips, a single bar of gold-pressed latinum was on offer. A small party consisting of four andorians, two cardassians and a well-dressed human were allowed into a meeting that they had not been invited to. A room full of andorian workers turned a baleful eye on the human and cardassian interlopers, only to be astounded as they and their andorian escort walked straight through the room toward the stage where the speaker that the workers had come to listen to, stepped aside deferentially…

.  
A***A  
.

In yet another part of the Trantor Underground latinum was not on offer. A contingent of 30 Andorian Imperial Guard troopers had overwhelmed an outpost guarded by a small group of humans and bajorans – most of whom were now dead, all with extensive phaser burns. Commander Oshreb Sav was using his Ushan-Tor to remove clothing piece by piece from the two surviving human prisoners. He wasn't asking questions… Yet… Just making it clear how sharp and effective the andorian ice-cutting blade could be. Over the years he had found that humans in particular did not like being naked and they tended to be far more cooperative under interrogation after their clothing had been stripped from them.

.  
A***A  
.

In the Market District in the middle of the Trantor Underground, Thomas Hobbs was offering additional latinum to a representative of the market master in exchange for information.

.

In four different transactions under Trantor, two fueled by gold-pressed latinum, one enabled by latinum and fueled by soaring rhetoric and one driven by combined phaser fire and knife work, the same name came up: The hidden city of th'Istel…

.

13.11


	13. Ep 13x12: The Painted Specter

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 12: The Painted Specter by General Suk Sin Soor  
.

13.12  
The Painted Specter by General Suk Sin Soor  
.

_ "…was I sought, never a key, always the lightning that revealed itself the wraith I chased. Chased to obliteration the wraith or myself."_

.

Commander David Pepper was in the captain's chair on the bridge of the U.S.S. Hunter, reciting poetry from memory:

.

_ "Although there was my love and there would be my heirs, I never sought th'Istel. It was…_

.

_ "…painted specter I followed, followed I thought to the end of my days._

_ "Followed ever south with my dreams. Tracked through den and valley. Tracked through burning wastes and…"_

.

2nd Lt. T'Lon, Investigator Shran and the rest of the Hunter's hunting party were seated at a table in the Trantor Underground, listening intently for clues:

.

_ "…woke screaming from this…_

.

_ "….that revealed this phantom I had for so long chased until south I could go no more and only when…_

.

_ "…only look to the north. All my dreams were north. My eyes could only see north. North I only could go._

_ "But the painted specter had me in its grasp along with all the treasures it foretold_

_ "Deep underground, the ice, the cold, the walls lined with precious southern stones_

_ "More wonderful to behold than all the fleshly beauty I had dreamed to touch in my youth_

_ "And there my lust exhausted itself finally in a cold southern cavern of marble and cascades of precious stones_

_ "A cavern made for mad lords to lust to own but could not be owned_

_ "The stones could not be taken north_

_ "The marble floor could not be reaped_

_ "The lust lingering beauty of cold stone and lifeless_

_ "And at long last I caught glimpse of the painted specter I had given my life to capture_

_ "Its beauty, its evil, its cold heartless face_

_ "And I reached out to grasp it and cut my hands on the sharp edges of ice_

_ "As the mirror shattered and I and the specter shattered with it_

_ "At th'Istel, at the end of my dreams_

_ "But at long…"_

.

"That's all there is to it?" asked Investigator Lynhart Shran after several seconds of silence.

"That is all there is to it," Commander Pepper replied.

Shran and the remainder of the U.S.S. Hunter's hunting party were seated at a workman's lunch station in the Trantor Underground, at which they were enjoying a surprisingly tasty, if suspiciously greasy lunch along with nearly a hundred machine workers and wranglers. Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs had recommended this place and had secured a reasonably private booth for the Hunter's crew – he still had a few friends who worked in the underground and apparently a relative who managed this food court.

The crew members had all heard Pep reciting the fragments of the only poem known to be penned by General Suk Sin Soor. Many other works had been attributed to the legendary andorian general, but The Painted Specter was the only one that could be authenticated and none of the disputed works came close to matching the general's command of Lak, an antique andorian language.

"You should hear it in the original Lak," Pep continued. "The language ripples and shimmers, particularly the long, unbroken fragment at the end."

"Another time," said 2nd Lt. T'Lon. "This poetic fragment sounds like very little to base a lost city on."

"It is the progenitor of the legend," Pep replied. "The oldest known reference to it and many scholars believe General Soor was writing not about an actual underground city, but an inner struggle. Of the many aphorisms attributed to him, the one that is probably most well authenticated is: 'To conquer the world you must first conquer yourself.' So th'Istel became, in legend, a holy place. A place to rid yourself of inner demons, conquer the soul, and emerge a true warrior, ready to serve the andorian people and the andorian state selflessly. That poem launched a literary and cultural movement that has lasted nearly 3,000 years."

"It sounds like he's describing being at the South Pole," observed Lt. Tauk, who was monitoring this conversation from the Hunter's ground operations center, along with Belo Cantys. "'Followed ever south with my dreams… My eyes could only see north. North I only could go'…" Tauk quoted.

.

"And that is probably what our Andorian friends think as well if they have gotten this far," said Pep. "Unless they have a scholar of the literary classics with them who has actually looked at the original work. General Suk Sin Soor was a boustrophedonic writer."

"A what?" asked Shran.

"Meaning he wrote every other line backward," said Tauk.

"And the lines he wrote in reverse are always the lines that contain the words 'north' and 'south' or 'southern'," said Pep. "Meaning that if our andorian friends are digging for the lost city under the South Pole…"

.

"They're digging in the wrong place," said Shran, Tauk, T'Lon, Hobbs and Buttans in unison.

.

"I will need to provide this information to Agent Canada," said Agent Lynarr.

"Of course, Anana," said Pep. "So T'Lon, Lenny, what would you like to do next? Fancy a trip to the North Pole of Cun Ling?"

"Not just yet," Shran said. He glanced at T'Lon, who displayed no discernible expression.

"Why is that, Lynhart?" Tauk asked.

"It's just… too easy," Shran concluded. "We aren't the first people to go looking for th'Istel and if it were that easy to find, it would have been found by now, literary scholar or no. We need to consider the other clues... Like the precious gems that could not be removed from the walls…"

"You're not going to find that anywhere on this planet," remarked Hobbs. "It takes certain conditions for gems to grow – millions of years – and Cun Ling is less than 300 years old."

"An andorian would have less than no use for such baubles," said Tali Shae, who had been listening in from the bridge of the U.S.S. Hunter.

"Precious stones in the Lak language does not refer to what you think of as gem stones," said Pep. "A better translation would be stones that contain high amounts of ore – iron, zinc, bauxite, copper…"

"Iron and marble that cannot be removed…" mused Hobbs, his Scottish brogue just a little thicker than normal.

"What are you thinking, Tommy?" Pep asked.

"th'Istel might be closer than we think," Hobbs said. "Most cities on Cun Ling were built on a single asteroid – a large body. But Trantor is built on eight of them. And you may have noticed the really tall skyscrapers – the ones that reach so far up into the atmosphere they need their own solar shielding and have the upper floors pressurized – they're located on the north and south ends of the city. If they were built anywhere else, the city would be perpetually in their shadow…"

"The asteroids those buildings are anchored to…" T'Lon started.

"Lumps of solid iron embedded in marble," Hobbs said. "Nothing else could hold them. And there is iron that cannot be removed and marble that cannot be reaped. Right under the north and south poles of this city…"

Lynhart Shran turned toward Agent Anana Lynarr from the Trantor Police Intelligence Division. "I'm sure our scanners won't be able to penetrate the city's shielding. Think you can get us some maps of Trantor Underground – with particular details about the north end?"

Before Lynarr could answer, Dih Terri spoke up. "It won't be as accurate as the maps from the Trantor Mining Consortium. My father had details from those maps all over the walls of his office."

"Turns out you were useful after all," Shran said with a smile. "Think dear old dad will forward the maps to you that we need?"

.  
A**A  
.

"They want Lieutenant Commander Dolphin? Why him?"

At the same time that Pep was reciting ancient andorian poetry to the hunting party, Justice Minerva Irons and Kenny Dolphin were in the captain's office, having a conversation with Johnny Canada, who was at a precinct station near the Trantor Underground Market. Canada had already arranged for Tolon's excised left thumbnail to be beamed up to the Hunter's medical bay, where Ensign Chrissiana Trei and Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder were analyzing it.

.

"Andoria First suffered a major blow – 37 dead andorians in the streets of Trantor. They need a big win to even the score. According to my sources – and they are usually reliable – it appears the commander of the I.G.V. Ravonnelle lost her command during the battle over Rings. The story goes that her first officer stunned her with a phaser, assumed command and warped out of the way of Lieutenant Commander Dolphin's attack at the last second. She escaped from her own brig, commandeered a shuttle and made it to an Andoria First enclave. Apparently the entire Andoria First movement has taken the incident personally and they really want your director of flight operations. They would see it as a symbolic victory because of his notoriety both as a philosopher and as a pilot. My sources would be the go-between in this swap of Dr. Dolphin in exchange for Tolon, Chin, Jarrong and the Belo siblings."

"Can you negotiate the exchange on our behalf, Agent Canada?" Justice Irons asked.

"I strongly advise against trying to make this exchange."

"I'm just playing for time," Irons said...

"That is a very dangerous game," Canada said.

"What would you recommend?"

"Bargain for his life, for a fair trial. If you do that, you might get another fingernail or two before they start sending you mutilated bodies, which is what you will probably get if you give in too easily. We have to make this appear to be real – and they know you are looking for them. They won't give you many chances."

.

13.12


	14. Ep 13x13: Cardassian Pepper

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 13: Cardassian Pepper  
.

13.13  
Cardassian Pepper  
.

They had taken Flight Specialist Joey Chin. That was all Jarrong could think about. With a combination of cold blasts of air, changes in lighting including bright lights and occasional blasts of unbearable noise, her andorian captors had made it largely impossible for her and her crewmates to sleep.

Tolon's thumb had turned black and his hand was quickly turning. If he were fully human, the rot would have spread into his blood stream by now, but bajorans were exceptionally resistant to infection and this was all that was keeping him alive - barely. That and there was a native toughness to the man. But he was clearly nearing the end of his endurance.

Tactical Specialists Belo Rys and Belo Garr were little better off than Jarrong. All three had huddled around Ensign Tolon Reeves in an effort to keep him warm and conscious. They had retreated into emotional shells they had created long ago in order to survive harsh cardassian prisons on CIO 19 (Cardassia Imperial Outpost 19) where they had been born and grew up.

.

The cell door lock rattled, then the door opened with a bang. Two andorians briskly entered the cell. "Get up, cardassian," said one of them. "You're going to have to carry your friend."

Tactical Specialist Jarrong summoned the last of her strength, wrapped Tolon's left arm around her shoulder and lifted him. She trudged out of the cell, her cousins ahead of her. Her mind suddenly became alert when she heard the andorians quietly talking behind her:

"Where is the other one? There was one that was part human, part vulcan."

"Not in any of the cells we've seen so far, must be ahead. Take point."

Jarrong moved carefully to her right as one of the andorians squeezed around her, then in front of her cousins. He put up a clenched fist and the group jolted to a halt. Jarrong could see him adjusting the stunbludgeon to its highest setting, which would deliver the same amount of force on contact as a phaser set to kill. Just ahead was the open cell door to the cell in which Tolon had been tortured. Another andorian was standing guard at the door. She challenged the andorian at the front of the line.

.

"I wasn't told the prisoners were to be moved..."

"You mean they tell you everything?" said the andorian in front of her. He stepped forward casually. "Because they never tell me anything..." He completed the sentence by delivering a death blow to his interlocutor with the stunbludgeon.

Crackling electric buzzing and the smell of charred flesh.

The andorian door-guard's body slammed back against the cell door and several of her teeth exploded out of her mouth from the massive electric shock delivered by the stunbludgeon at full power.

.

The andorian carrying the stunbludgeon surged into the cell and Jarrong could hear screaming from within as at least two more people were dealt fatal electric shocks.

.

Jarrong's heart sank as two more andorians came quickly from the other end of the hall, phasers drawn. More people were behind them. She closed her eyes and sagged against the freezing wall of the tunnel, barely managing to keep from dropping Tolon.

As if in a dream, she heard a voice say, "Let me have the bajoran, little sister."

Jarrong finally gave into some fantastic dream in which a very large cardassian was gently taking Ensign Tolon from her failing arms. In her dream, Belo Rys took her arm and helped her move forward down the hall. A giant cardassian lumbered in front of her, carrying Tolon. Or was it Pep who was carrying Tolon?

It had to be Pep. For some reason he was about a half-foot shorter and had cardassian neck ridges. But if a giant cardassian could rescue her and take her half-bajoran commanding officer from her arms, Pep could grow neck ridges. And be a little shorter.

Just ahead of cardassian Pep, another man was carrying another person. Bare legs and feet dangling from his left arm. A head rolling back and forth on his right arm. A cascade of impossibly fine, black hair. So black that it had a blue shine to it.

.

13.13


	15. Ep 13x14: The Assault on th'Istel

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 14: The Assault on th'Istel  
.

13.14  
The Assault on th'Istel  
.

Commander Oshreb Sav had sent a small contingent of his Imperial Guard forces to the South Pole of Cun Ling to dig for th'Istel, but he had little expectation they would find anything. With eleven squadrons of Imperial Guard Spelunkers at his command, he had troops to spare and the mission might at least divert some attention.

Sav had no intention of sending a squadron of the Andorian Imperial Guard to go digging under Santa's Workshop on the North Pole, rumors of reverse writing or no rumors. He had received information from more than one source that an Andoria First stronghold was being built deep in the Trantor Underground, near the north end of the city.

The more reliable of these sources, the Trantor Police Intelligence Division, had agreed after negotiations between Sav and Trantor's Mayor, Harry Issacs, to a three-pronged strategy. To put this strategy together, Commander Sav called a meeting with the key players in the north underground Trantor Police precinct. The squad room was cleared out to serve as their field operation headquarters.

Commander David Pepper had beamed into the precinct to coordinate on behalf of Star Fleet. Special Agent in Charge Johnny Canada represented the Blue Helmets (Trantor Police Uniform Division). Commander Oshreb Sav represented the Andorian Imperial Guard. The three of them remained in the precinct to coordinate their respective forces. Maps provided by Dih Strangent, Flight Specialist Dih Terri's father, a director in the Trantor Mining Consortium, were spread out in front of them. Dih Terri remained with Pep to help interpret the maps, which were insanely detailed.

Markers on the maps denoted the positions of the AIG, the Blue Helmets and T'Lon's small response team. At Shran's recommendation, T'Lon had invited Lt. Napoleon Boles to take Terri's place on the team.

.

Predictably, the plan went awry.

.

T'Lon's team was supposed to enter the catacombs at the lowest level of th'Istel in secret, but someone had tipped off the Andoria First group about the impending attack and T'Lon and her group were surrounded by armed andorians and had to take cover.

They were in a large open underground cavern with pillars of various sizes at irregular intervals holding up the ceiling. Lanterns high above provided dim, general lighting. Tabletops had been carved around these pillars at chest height for andorian use - since andorians rarely used chairs. 2nd Lt. T'Lon, Lt. Napoleon Boles, Investigators Lynhart Shran and Buttans Ngumbo, Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs, Midshipman Tammy Brazil and Agent Anana Lynarr of the Trantor Police Intelligence Division ducked and found themselves back to back dodging among a group of large pillars to avoid phaser blasts from the separatists.

Adding Dr. Boles to the team proved fortunate as he was nearly as good with a phaser as Shran. Using a pencil thin beam that left tiny scorch marks on the granite and marble pillars but burned clothing and flesh, causing excrutiating pain, Boles laid out a continuous web of phaser fire that served not only to incapacitate several andorians, but also kept them ducking behind pillars to avoid getting burned. Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs, although he took more time to draw a bead, turned out to be a fair shot with a phaser as well.

.

As soon as the first shots were fired, Commander Sav committed his forces, producing a storm of phaser fire that relieved the pressure from T'Lon's team.

"Disengage and head toward the catacombs," T'Lon ordered. Boles was slow to respond, so she enforced the order by slugging him hard on his upper arm. Although he outranked her, he had agreed to come on the mission under the condition that it was her mission.

A broad area of steps led down to a large opening. Before T'lon's group could enter, phaser fire came lacing out. One beam cut a broad mark into T'Lon's cheek, and sliced through her ear on its way up, where it cut into Midshipman Tammy Brazil's chest.

T'Lon shook her head, releasing a spray of green blood, then headed down the stairs toward the wall next to the opening. Brazil screamed in agony and crashed to the floor. Dr. Boles slung his phaser and lifted her effortlessly, carrying her down the stairs and against the wall. Boles was carrying a medkit and quickly began treating Brazil's wound. He ripped her uniform away from her chest. Her right breast had been sliced nearly in half. Boles quickly reconfigured a dermal regenerator, hooking it into his phaser and began treating her breast with what appeared to be a phaser beam. "Emergency medical beamout! Boles, Brazil!" A moment later, they vanished.

.

T'Lon grasped Thomas Hobbs' arm to stop him from firing into the catacombs. "NO SHOOTING BLIND! They may be using our people as shields!" With a quick hand sign she ordered her team to line up on either side of the opening. While no more phaser beams were coming out of the hole, weapons fire could be heard inside. T'Lon brought out her tricorder and held it out into the opening, then brought it back and studied the readings.

"Shran, Hobbs, Lynarr, guard the opening, watch our flank. Buttans, with me. Stay close to the wall."

.

Within a few minutes the fighting died down as Commander Sav's units easily overpowered and outgunned the Andoria First group. Commander Sav, Pep and Johnny Canada came forward from the precinct to view the carnage. The Andorian Imperial Guard, unlike their Star Fleet and Trantor Police counterparts, did not hesitate to use deadly force. Nearly fifty andorians in various civilian clothing, most dressed as either mining engineers or support workers, lay dead or wounded in the broad underground courtyard where the battle had taken place.

.

After a number of Imperial Guard Spelunkers had cleared the area of any potential threats, Pep, Sav and Canada approached the entrance to the catacombs where Lynarr, Shran and Hobbs were standing guard. Almost at that moment, T'Lon and Buttans emerged from the entrance to the catacombs, followed by two andorians and a cardassian. T'Lon's face was bleeding and the top half of her right earlobe was missing.

.

Then a large cardassian emerged, carrying Ensign Tolon Reeves, who was barely conscious and moaning incoherently. Belo Garr and Belo Rys followed, supporting Jarrong between them. Jarrong could barely walk. She was shivering and evidently suffering from hypothermic shock.

.

Then, flanked by two more andorians, came Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic, tears in his eyes, streaming down his face. The front of his simple, but flawlessly tailored gray suit was matted with blood.

.

In his arms, Ivonovic carried the naked, dead and mutilated body of Flight Specialist Joey Chin.

.  
13.14


	16. Ep 13x15: Requiem

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 15: Requiem  
.

13.15  
Requiem  
.

Ensign Tolon Reeves and Tactical Specialist Jarrong were both recuperating in Trantor General Hospital. Belo Rys, Belo Garr and Belo Cantys stayed with them. Because Lt. Tauk was restricted to shipboard duty, they insisted that 2nd Lt. T'Lon attend the funeral to represent the Ground Operations Department. The U.S.S. Hunter's transporter systems chief, Midshipman Tammy Brazil, was also recovering in Trantor General with Lt. Napoleon Boles in attendance. The Trantor doctors were fascinated with the field dressing Dr. Boles had applied that had made it possible for her breast to heal. From the shape of the wound, the doctors anticipated they would have needed to amputate.

There was no choice when it came to Ensign Tolon's hand - his left arm had to be amputated just below the elbow. A prosthetic was created for him that looked completely natural, but he was warned that it would never be as sensitive or as controllable as a real hand. Because he was a hybrid, there was no chance that a compatible donor could be found and within two weeks of his nervous system adapting to the prosthetic, he would never be a candidate for a transplant.

.

Joey Chin's body had been too mangled to display in state, to the dismay of his parents, brothers, sisters and many cousins who lived in Ba Sing Se. Following family tradition, which Joey had requested when he had entered basic training just under three years previously, his body was, following a thorough autopsy, pulped and the remains placed in a large, black planter along with a river willow sapling, to be planted along one of the many rivers that ran through the great Earth Kingdom city.

.

Justice Minerva Irons presented the eulogy jointly with the U.S.S. Hunter's Director of Flight Operations, Lt. Cmdr. Kenny Dolphin. Given the gravity of the events and the large number of dignitaries in attendance, there was no hope of this funeral being an intimate affair. Nearly 6,000 people, including the majority of the Irons, Chin, Lin, Smart, Young, Li and Wu families filled one of the courtyards of Ba Sing Se's Imperial Palace. The Dai Li were out in force, well over 500 Dai Li agents were visible among the crowd with many more out of uniform, providing covert security.

Along with Joey Chin's immediate family and the U.S.S. Hunter's entire Flight Operations Department and several other crew members in the front row, Commander Oshreb Sav, Seiv th'Stavin (a distant cousin of Emperor Sin IV), Ba Sing Se's Mayor Chris Young, Trantor's Mayor Harry Issacs, and Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic were among the most prominent dignitaries.

.

"I could lie to you. I could tell you that Flight Specialist Joey Chin gave his life heroically in the line of duty." The communicator embedded in Justice Irons' chest was connected to the public address system, bringing her voice clearly to the thousands of people in the courtyard and a far larger audience scattered throughout Trantor and across Cun Ling who were watching this event live on their viewscreens.

"But Joey was not on duty. He was on leave and wearing civilian clothing. Just another tourist walking into a pub in Trantor. One of millions of tourists walking into any one of thousands of pubs in Trantor. He was kidnapped, along with his crewmates because they served on the U.S.S. Hunter, which has seen action against a separatist movement identifying themselves as Andoria First.

"Joey was kidnapped, tormented and eventually tortured to death to satisfy a grudge. This is what happens when terrorists attempt to supplant the rule of law with the more ancient rule of personal honor. Endless cycles of revenge. Savagery. We will not meet savagery with savagery, but with justice. However, when the many members of Andoria First who have been arrested are brought to trial, I cannot sit in judgement. I am touched too closely by their crime.

"To Joey's family, please understand that I know what it is to lose a son in Star Fleet. I have lost three children in the service of Star Fleet and two of my grandchildren and two great grandchildren as well. And Joey was in battle - a battle for his life and for the lives of his four crewmates. None of his crewmates would have survived without him. Although Joey was a combat pilot, it was not his combat skills that saved his crewmates' lives. It was his warmth and his kindness that saved their lives and gave them the strength to hold on just a little longer and he will be greatly and bitterly missed.

"Flight Specialist Joey Chin was a member of the U.S.S. Hunter's Flight Operations Department. I have asked my Flight Operations Department Director, Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Dolphin, to speak about Joey. Kenneth?"

.

Kenny Dolphin had been standing next to and a half step behind Justice Irons on her left side. He took one step forward and to the left. His internal communicator connected into the public address system, creating an ambient breath.

"Today is Joey Chin's 21st birthday. We had planned a party. A little over a week ago, along with another pilot, Joey conducted a flawless first strike against a facility, destroying vital infrastructure to a private residence. In that attack we confirmed that four andorians were killed. Four out of an entire facility population of 167. Our telemetry shows that the only people killed in that strike were those unfortunate enough to be in the vital systems we needed to take out at the moment of our attack. As a direct result of that flawlessly conducted strike, three young andorian girls who had been held at that facility against their wills and at threat to their lives were rescued - by the very crewmembers that Joey saved only a few days ago.

"Sometimes fighter pilots are portrayed as romantic heroes. Sometimes as heartless killers. Joey became a fighter pilot because he just wanted that feeling of flight. He loved to fly solo. But Joey was in the business of saving lives. And his primary tool was a Star Fleet Interceptor. Over the past few days, he saved the lives of his crewmates with his kindness, his warmth and his gentleness.

"The Flight Operations Department will remember a trusted wingman. The Ground Operations Department will remember a kind, gentle and beautiful young man. I will remember the young man I occasionally caught discussing romantic poetry with a small circle of friends on our crew. And now I am faced with the unenviable task of finding another pilot to take the place of a young man who cannot be replaced."

.

As Dolphin was speaking, he noticed 2nd Lt. T'Lon, Dr. Tali Shae, and Commander David Pepper getting up from the front row and trying to exit as discretely as they could. Which, given Pep's enormous size, was completely impossible. Out of the corner of his eye, Dolphin could see them hurrying across the courtyard, then being beamed out.

.

After the ceremony, Dolphin found himself speaking with Emory Ivonovic, who introduced him to Seiv th'Stavin, who had accompanied Ivonovic into the caverns to rescue the Hunter's crew. "Siev was the one with connections to the Andorian Naturalborn Coalition," Ivonovic was saying. "Many of their members had become increasingly uncomfortable with Andoria First and the separatists. They were the ones who told us where to look and convinced some of the guards to defect and give us access…"

A clearly distraught woman elbowed her way into the conversation. "I recognize you! You're that horrible man who hates hybrids! Why are you here? What gives you the right?"

Dolphin found himself responding: "Councilmember Ivonovic rescued our crew from Andoria First. He carried Joey's body out…"

"I have five daughters," Ivonovic said, "and for the past two and a half years, that young man put his life on the line to protect my daughters. I only wish I could have gotten..." Ivonovic swallowed hard, took a breath, grimaced… "I wish I could have gotten there sooner.. I wish I could have brought him out alive…"

.

A***A

.

"His babies!" wailed Cantys. She collapsed into Dr. Tali Shae's arms. They were in the small surgery behind the Hunter's medical office. "I'm carrying his babies! He'll never see his babies!" She buried her face into Tali's chest, and wailed, her tiny body wracked with uncontrollable grief.

Tali held the Hunter's youngest crewmember tightly, stroked her hair. "I know baby. I know," she whispered, her voice cracking, unable to talk, her antennae curling, emphasizing the grimace of grief on her face.

.

A few feet away, Dr. Jazz Sam Sinder was talking with Pep and T'Lon. Buttans Ngumbo was nearby.

"It was really only a matter of time. We performed four surgeries since he arrived. His circulatory system was unique. Andorians and humans really aren't very compatible. It's a wonder his heart ever worked at all. There was never a chance of finding a compatible donor and for the same reason, the chances of a prosthetic working for him were… unacceptable. So we just repaired it as best we could. This time it just… pretty much… just… fell apart. We had him on the table and open within three minutes, but there just… wasn't anything I could do…"

"You did your best, Sam," said Pep, laying an enormous hand on the bajoran doctor's shoulder. "You kept him alive this long. You gave him years he wouldn't have had without you."

.

T'Lon's face had turned a bit pale, causing the dark green scar on her right cheek to stand out more. She had unconsciously brushed her hair back, revealing her ears - the top half of her right earlobe had been cut off by a phaser blast only days before during the assault on th'Istel.

Buttans Ngumbo stood across from her, a blank expression on his face. Registering only shock.

.

On the surgery table between them, chest sewn back up, eyes closed, oddly large antennae finally motionless, lay the body of Investigator Lynhart Shran.

.  
13.15


	17. EP 13X16: Imperial Script

**Star Trek Hunter**  
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling  
Scene 16: Imperial Script  
.

13.16  
Imperial Script  
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Federation Councilmember Emory Ivonovic had received a cryptic message from Emperor Sin IV. In the emperor's own handwriting - sort of. It was actually a duplicate of an original. The original had been destroyed immediately after being coded as a replicator pattern. A small square of silk with a pair of symbols painted in ink.

.

This pattern was sent from Andoria to Cun Ling via subspace radio. The signal was coded to Ivonovic's Federation Council security access protocol. Ivonovic was slightly disconcerted that the andorian emperor had access to security protocols for Federation Councilmembers, but it was not unreasonable for such information to be provided to the head of state for a member government.

Once Ivonovic entered his security access code and the small piece of silk with its unique ink lettering was recreated in the replicator in his stateroom, the replicator pattern was erased.

.

The emperor had painted only two symbols on the square of silk, but it took Ivonovic hours to determine what they meant. He was not about to ask anyone for help or even enter the symbols into a computer, where his search might be traced. He was not taking any chances that might let on that he was in secret communication with the andorian emperor.

Fortunately, Trantor had several analog libraries - libraries with actual books. After several hours digging around in the stacks near the top floor of the Trantor Metropolitan Library, Ivonovic was finally able to track down the top symbol in a book about antique andorian languages. The message had been written in Lak, a dead language.

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The top symbol translated roughly to an imperative: "Remain."

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Ivonovic searched through dozens of books for the bottom symbol without luck. He sat, staring at it, then slapped his forehead – hard – when he realized the bottom symbol was identical to the top symbol - only reversed. Another twenty minutes of research revealed that the ancient andorian military officers who used the Lak written language occasionally used reversed symbols to invert the meaning.

.

Fully translated and put into context, the emperor's message read:

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"You stay there. I am coming."

.  
13 – The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling


End file.
